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The buttermilk fried chicken at Scratch Cookery in San Jose comes in ascending levels of heat, from a mild house seasoning to a melt-your-head combination of habanero, scorpion, Carolina Reaper and ghost peppers. It seems somehow fitting that the restaurant was born from a fire that leveled the townhouse where owner Connor Vu lived.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the day after the Giants won the World Series in 2014,\u201d Vu told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201c(My wife and I) lost everything in that fire and decided to take a gamble: Instead of refurbishing our house, we bought a food truck.\u201d<\/p>\n
Owning a food truck had been on Vu\u2019s mind for a while. At that point, employed as the manager of a women\u2019s retail store, he had no cooking experience outside of backyard barbecues with friends. But his experience at a food truck festival planted the seed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lines were busy and they were taking forever to make food. And it was not even that good,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought, \u2018Maybe I can do this.\u2019 But it was on the back burner because the funds weren\u2019t available.\u201d<\/p>\n
He began with seafood, offering items such as fish tacos and soft-shell crab BLTs, but the margins were poor and demand was low. He revamped the menu and rebranded the company in 2018. He said when he first tried a flavorful, spicy hot chicken sandwich, he knew it\u2019d be big.<\/p>\n
The success of his food truck led Vu to lease a storefront in Fountain Alley in 2020. He survived the pandemic through pop-ups and DoorDash until the grand opening of Scratch Cookery in 2022, when his new restaurant was flooded with loyal customers and their need for heat.<\/p>\n
In a process that hasn\u2019t changed since he began, Vu starts by soaking his chicken in a buttermilk brine mixture for three days. The meat is breaded in a lightly spiced batter and fried twice in 375-degree oil \u2014 once to cook the chicken, and after a short rest it\u2019s fried again to add a bit more crispiness.<\/p>\n
A fried chicken sandwich with Sidewinder fries. Photo by Robert Eliason.<\/p>\n
Before being placed on the brioche bun, the chicken is dipped in a mildly spiced hot oil, which keeps everything moist and delicious. Then the heat is applied according to the customer\u2019s orders, chosen from eight levels created from a blend of more than 20 spices.<\/p>\n
The finished sandwich comes topped with coleslaw, dill pickle slices and a dollop of mayonnaise and vinegar-based Comeback Sauce. Unlike many fried chicken sandwiches, the meat isn\u2019t entombed in excess breading: The coating is thin and packed with flavor.<\/p>\n
The heat options start at Level Zero, with just a dusting of mild seasoning. Vu describes Level One as equal to a Hot Cheeto, with Level Two being \u201can extra hot Hot Cheeto.\u201d Level Three, he said, is comparable to a raw jalape\u00f1o in terms of spice.<\/p>\n
\u201cLevel Three is my max,\u201d Vu said. \u201cI mean, I\u2019ll eat a four and I\u2019ll be dying. I\u2019ve never tried anything higher than a five, and even with that, I had a tiny bite, and I just couldn\u2019t take it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vu prepares a chicken sandwich, which is topped with coleslaw, dill pickle slices and a dollop of mayonnaise and vinegar-based Comeback Sauce. Photo by Robert Eliason.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, Vu suggests new customers start at the low end of the heat scale and work their way up. He said the second and third levels are the most popular, and that Levels Five, Six and Seven are there for the experts, \u201cnot for the light-hearted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Longtime customer Alex McFarland has been a fan of Scratch Cookery since Vu\u2019s days of doing food truck pop-ups at breweries. He maxes out at Level Three, which he described as \u201chigh in chile.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not big on spice,\u201d McFarland told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cIt makes me sweat. So I like that you get a big juicy chicken breast and can scale the level. The breading is crispy, and the seasoning is really tasty. There\u2019s a lot of good flavor there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Customer Nancy Khuu opted for the smash burger, which she described as \u2018the best in the Bay Area.\u2019 Photo by Robert Eliason.<\/p>\n
Fellow customer and friend Nancy Khuu opted for the smash burger, which she described as \u201cthe best in the Bay Area.\u201d It\u2019s a quarter-pound grass-fed beef patty embedded with grilled onions, cooked to order, then served on a potato bun with American cheese and a tangy housemade \u201cscratch spread.\u201d The same spectrum of hot seasonings featured with the chicken sandwiches can also be added to burgers.<\/p>\n
Scratch Cookery\u2019s menu also offers crispy chicken salads, grilled cheese sandwiches and hot tofu sandwiches \u2014 brined and battered just like the chicken. Sides include four-cheese macaroni and cheese and Sidewinder fries, sort of a cross between curly fries and potato wedges. Vu also carries a large variety of Original Pattern beers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do our best to keep it simple and make it good,\u201d Vu told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cWe believe in our product and I just genuinely love how people react when they try my food.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contact Robert Eliason at [email protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n